"What I'm doing right now ain't good enough" - Russell Westbrook after another bad game and finishing 5 of 17 from the field vs Dallas Mavericks
Russell Westbrook did not have a good day at the office on Tuesday night. The 33-year-old shot 5-of-17 from the field and went 0-for-4 from downtown for his 12 points as the LA Lakers suffered a 104-109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at home. He also added eight assists and six rebounds but finished with an overall plus-minus of minus eight in the contest.
The Lakers are now seven games below .500. https://t.co/0FgZfGbGcU
Speaking during the post-game media interaction, Westbrook cut a particularly forlorn figure. When asked what stuck out to him from the stat sheet, he replied:
"One, we lost. Number two, looking at how I need to be better... I just have to be better overall. What I'm doing right now ain't good enough."
"I need to be better overall. What I'm doing right now isn't good enough." Russell Westbrook following a 5-17 shooting night in #Lakers loss to Dallas. https://t.co/mgM55WBaxT
Despite his own lackluster performance in the game, Westbrook remained "super confident" about the Lakers' chances of making it to the play-in tournament.
When asked about was the reason behind his high confidence, Westbrook replied:
"Because I got confidence in this group like I always have. We can play the best teams. I'm not worried about nobody we have to play. We've beaten the best teams. We've lost to some of the worst teams. So my confidence in this group is extremely high because I know what we're capable of when we put our mind to it and do exactly we need to do on a night-in-and-night out basis."
Russell Westbrook is struggling with the LA Lakers this season
Although Russell Westbrook did not have any turnovers versus Dallas, there is no denying that he is finding it hard to fit in with the LA Lakers.
The 2016-17 regular-season MVP leads the league in total turnovers (238). This is a big reason why the Lakers rank among the bottom five teams in the league as far as turnovers are concerned.
#Lakers lose a tough one to Dallas 109-104.
We're discussing it now over on Spectrum SportsNet. https://t.co/WpWQXNqsSa
Westbrook is also only averaging 18.1 PPG, his lowest single-season scoring average since his second NBA season (2009-10) when he averaged 16.1 PPG for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The nine-time All-Star has also had nine single-digit scoring performances this season for the LA Lakers. His inability to knock down a triple versus the Mavericks made it the 23rd time he has gone empty-handed while attempting at least one three-pointer this season.
Westbrook and the Lakers will play the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night when they will attempt to end their three-game losing streak.